Norwegian soccer officials suspect match-fixing in Europa League match

OSLO – Norway’s soccer federation says it has asked UEFA to probe possible match-fixing in a Europa League match between Norwegian side Aalesund and Albania’s Tirana.

Spokesman Svein Graff said Sunday that the federation learned about the possible fraud last week from Norway’s national lottery, Norsk Tipping, which had ceased taking bets on the July 26 game after the score reached 2-0.

Graff says that Norsk Tipping began to see unusual betting patterns on the game from unnamed Asian countries, including bets that the game would end 5-0.

Aalesund won the match 5-0.

Last month Norwegian soccer was stunned by a match-fixing scandal, with police detaining players from lower-tier club Follo for questioning in relation to a 4-3 loss to Oestsiden in which Follo conceded four goals in the last 20 minutes.